Managing pests and diseases in cut flowers: Far North Coast

Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) is a practical approach that helps you stay ahead of pest and disease outbreaks. By combining cultural, biological, and chemical strategies, IPDM supports healthier crops, reduces your reliance on pesticides, and can save you money over time — all while minimising harm to the environment

Who’s this for?

• For those just getting started with IPDM, this hands-on workshop will give you the practical knowledge and confidence to take the next steps

• For those already practising IPDM, this is an opportunity to seek support from specialists on problematic pests and further build your skills.

Join us for a FREE workshop designed specifically for cut flower growers in NSW, led by experienced IPDM specialists.

Lunch will be provided, and there’ll be plenty of time to chat with other growers and industry experts.

What we’ll cover:

• The key steps to IPDM

• How to identify and manage key insect pests in cut flowers

• Common diseases and how to manage them

• How to get the most out of your pesticide application

• Crop scouting techniques 

This workshop is being hosted at Caldera Flower Farm.

Presenters

Dr. Robert Spooner-Hart 

Dr. Robert Spooner-Hart is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Plant Production Systems at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He has over 40 years of experience in entomological research and development, with a major emphasis on IPM, sustainable pest management, biological control, and beneficial insects in horticultural production. He has conducted numerous research and extension projects on IPM and sustainable production with growers in Australia and overseas.

Dr. Len Tesoriero 

After a career as a plant pathologist with the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Len retired in 2018 and established the consulting firm Crop Doc Consulting Pty Ltd. He maintains a role with NSW DPIRD as a Visiting Scientist, contributing to disease surveillance and mentoring younger plant pathologists. Over the past years, he has conducted research on diseases of almonds, pistachios, olives and vegetables. He has previously worked extensively on integrated disease management strategies for protected cropping vegetables and cut flowers.

Tony Bundock

Tony Bundock has been in the commercial greenhouse industry for over 45 years. Originally Tony worked as a manager on a 4 acre cut flower farm in the UK’s Lea Valley with AYR Chrysanthemums. He emigrated to Australia in 1990 and became involved in the TAFE and training sector before forming his own company – Genesis Horticultural Solutions - to train growers in the use of Priva Irrigation and climate control systems. Currently, Tony works part time for PCA as a project manager as well as delivering general horticultural and Chemical User courses for differing providers.

More workshops

Two more workshops will be delivered in August on the Central Coast and Mid North Coast.

Central Coast workshop, Thursday 7th August at East Coast Wildflowers

Mid North Coast, Saturday 9th August at Mountain Nursery

For more information, contact Jesse on 0439 183 507 or jessec@rmcg.com.au

This workshop is organised by RMCG and funded by AgriFutures Australia, with support from the Australian Government and the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Rural Development. It is part of a larger project aimed at reducing chemical and plastic waste in the NSW cut flower industry. As part of that, we are delivering:

• Subsidised ChemCert training and refresher courses 

• Support identifying and dealing with pests and diseases, and plastic waste

• Factsheets on pest and disease management  

• Webinars on plastic and chemical waste